Thursday, September 22, 2011

I'm alive...really!

Jack will be seven weeks old on Monday. In some ways I can't believe it. Wasn't it just yesterday that we left the hospital? And in other ways, it feels like he's been with us forever. We've done a lot in the past six and a half weeks, though.

Jack got to meet his Aunt Karina. She came and spent a weekend. The following weekend, my best friend from college, Emily, came to visit. That was Labor Day weekend. Because of the extra holiday day off, we decided to head to Ohio last minute. We got up Monday morning, loaded up and left. It was a pretty decent trip, in spite of traveling with two kids. At that point, he was still eating quite slowly, so I ended up pumping in the van and then bottle feeding him when we stopped. He's done quite well at taking a bottle. The lactation consultant recommended introducing a bottle between weeks three and four so that he would be willing to take one without having nipple confusion. Thankfully, he's done great! We spent a nice few days with my family, just hanging out. It was very relaxing. I even got to sneak out for a late-night movie with my mom and sister. Jack, of course, tagged along, but it was a fun almost-girls night.

We got back from Ohio on Friday night and spent Saturday getting ready for Sunday. Sunday afternoon, Kraig's oldest sister called to see if there was anyway we could head to Pennsylvania to surprise his dad for his birthday. We didn't think so, but the way Kraig's day off fell, it worked out. We headed to PA on Thursday after work and came back home Saturday evening. It was a short trip, but he was genuinely surprised. Jack also got to meet his Uncle John and Aunt Shelley for the first time. And we made it in time to get Hank's Frozen Custard before they closed for the season!

This week, we've been home and it seems we may be dealing with colic. Ugh. The week prior to this, Jack was sleeping very well. The first stretch of sleep at night was lasting between 5 and almost 7 hours. Nothing to complain about. The last week, we've had more nights of screaming for a solid couple hours before he finally settles down to sleep. He's completely inconsolable. I'm hoping it's short lived, because I feel more tired now than I did when he was a week old.

All in all, though, he's a great baby. He's getting huge. We had his one month (five week) appointment last Monday. I was going to ask the doctor if she thought he was getting enough to eat, but then they weighed him. He weighed in at 11lbs 4oz. A solid four pounds from when we left the hospital. He was 24 inches long, a gain of 4 3/4 inches. Ridiculous! Obviously, the kid is eating well. I'm so pleased that we've made it this far exclusively breastfeeding. I was not so lucky with Kate, but he's a champ. Speaking of Jack, he's waking to eat!!